Savoring Summer

 

 

 

It feels as if it’s been two years since we’ve had summer.  Last June ushered in devastating floods here in Iowa and the remainder of the summer was swallowed up in coping with crises.  Though Cedar Rapids is far from a full recovery, God has smiled on our area by granting lovely summer weather…perfect for growing corn. 

 

 

 

 

And perfect for those of us – like me – who savor summer.  I love summer!  The top photo is a shot of one of my favorite roads for walking at sunrise. 

 

Day’s end is equally captivating, with glittering fireflies and breathtaking sunsets.  

 

    

 

I cannot thank God enough for granting us these lovely days.  Every single one is a gift.  If  I could, I would hug summer.  I’m doing my best by cherishing every moment.  And tenderly touching summer’s beauty.

 

Oh Lord, thank you for thinking up Hollyhocks!

 

In a world so fraught with strife and pain, these are the things which center me. 

 

God is still with us.  He is still Love.  My prayer is that may you see Him today, too.

 

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Good vs. Bad Education

 

 

 

A bad education will teach you what to think. 

 

A good education will teach you how to think. 

 

 

 

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FAQs

 

 

 

Lately, (meaning the last few months), some disturbing questions have been developing within me.   With increased frequency these questions are making their presence known.  Like pregnancy – it’s as if I’m in labor – and answers are begging to be born.  In no particular order, here are some of them:

 

1.)  How much time do I spend reading blogs, compared to the amount of time I spend reading the Bible?

 

2.)  Is there any value to writing a blog?  More specifically, is there any value to my blog? 

 

3.)  Am I called by God to write a blog, or is it just a time waster  filler?

 

4.)  Does my life center more on cyber-relationships connections, than on people who are clearly in my path –  i.e. neighbors, friends, relatives, and strangers I run into in daily life – such as store clerks, etc.?

 

(Please understand…Through blogging, I have “met” people I genuinely care about… people who I wish were my neighbors, relatives and/or fellow church members.  But by doing this, am I overlooking those whom God has put in front of me?)     

 

5.)  Based on my blog surfing, there appear to be tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of Christians who post on blogs.   Are we (am I ) “fiddling while Rome burns?”

 

I wonder if anyone else wonders these things.

 

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Corona 1, Robins 2

 

Came home from NC and discovered three little robin heads peeking from the nest under our front porch eaves.

 

 

Yesterday one decided to try his wings…

 

Fledgling # 1

 

…and became a victim to the neighbor’s cat last night.   Hero tried to rescue it but, alas, the damage was done.

 

Darn you, Corona! Yes, the cat's named after the beer. I love our neighbors and the cat, but right now he's not my friend.

 

Just now I heard a clunk! on our front porch and, sure enough, a second fledgling is now sitting on the concrete looking helpless.  Oh, whew, it just made its way up to my potted pansies. 

Aren’t those little tufts on his head the cutest?

 

Meanwhile, baby robin number three calls forlornly from the nest… 

   

 And I declare to Corona that they are NOT your supper!

 

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Six-day Riddle Solved

 

Though I flew home Monday, I’ve still been flying by the seat of my pants since we arrived.  I am not yet unpacked.  But, there are priorities, after all, so here’s the solution  to the Six-day Riddle (good guesses, by the way):

 

The photo was taken in Embera Drua, located on the Upper Chagres River in the Panama rainforest.  We reached the village by motorized canoe. 

 

 

 

 

I was captivated by the accounts of Miguel Flaco, the botanical doctor, who described the medicinal properties of local vegetation.  

 

 

 

In the mystery photo, Miguel shows the scars left by the bite of a venomous Bushmaster snake, the largest pit viper in the world (which reaches a length of from eight to twelve feet).   When asked if I could photograph his scars, he obliged by hastily picking a leaf  to display which type of plant saved his life.  Look how far apart those fang marks are!  

 

 

 

He said that normally a medicine is made from the plant but he was alone when the snake attacked so all he had time to do was pluck leaves and eat them before he passed out from the poison.  (Added: He also noted that the leaf is shaped like a heart…apparently a clue as to its healing properties.)

 

Needless to say, it was the trip of a lifetime.  I could post dozens of photos, and pages of copy about the amazing adventure, which I took in the summer of 2005.  It was in the Embera village where I had my first taste of Tilapia (fish), prepared by the local women.  Delicious! 

 

 

 It is perfectly okay to laugh at this photo.  Everyday in the Panama rainforest was a bad hair day for me.  Never had my tresses experienced such humidity.  Donning the cap was the only way to prevent a mega-fro, which, as you can see, was escaping anyway. 

 

Okay, enough.  Riddle solved.

 

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Six-day Riddle

 

 

As I wrote in my last post, I’ll be traveling for the next several days.  So, I thought I’d leave you with a riddle to work on til I get back around the 2nd. 

 

I took this photo.  It’s untouched.  It’s the real deal.  Where is it?  What is it? 

 

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Memorial Day Birthday

 

      For most of my married life, my birthday has been lost in the shuffle of Memorial Day weekend.  Time and again it got overlooked because we were out of town or busy with other activities.  So my birthday has become basically a non-event.  Not that we didn’t acknowledge it, it’s just that it was never much of a celebration. 

 

         About this time last year, I was with my sister reminiscing about the simple two-layer cakes our mother used to make for us eight siblings on our birthdays.  ”It has been so many years since I’ve had a ’real’ birthday cake,” I told her.  I couldn’t even remember the last time.

 
     As we chatted, I got excited.  I got bold.  I decided I was done ignoring my birthday.  I determined that I wanted to have an old fashioned two-layer birthday cake once again. 

 

     My heart’s desire was to celebrate with my siblings but we live 4 1/2 hours apart and that didn’t work.  So, after my birthday, one sister emailed asking whether or not I got my cake wish.  I wrote back:

 

Dear Sis, 

 

      Yes, I got my two-layer cake.  I made it myself.  I used a Duncan Hines yellow cake mix.  Not quite as homemade as I’d originally envisioned, but both layers baked fine. 

 

       For the filling, I chose Smucker’s Seedless Raspberry Jam and Orange Marmalade.  I planned to put one flavor on each layer and then put the two together.  Then frost the whole cake with orange whipped cream, and beautifully display my masterpiece on Mom’s vintage cake stand.

 
      As I worked, trying to get the right flavor mixture for the whipped cream topping, I pinched a bit of the cake out of the center of one layer to taste with the frosting and fillings.  I did that three or four times while trying to get the orange flavor just perfect.

 
      I placed the bottom layer on the cake stand and applied the Raspberry Jam.  Then I picked up the top half on which I’d spread the marmalade, but it stuck to the waxed paper I’d set it on.  With fingers spread wide, I attempted to balance the whole layer with one hand while peeling the paper off with the other.  However, because it was weak in the center from my taste tests, it broke in two.  One half plopped on the counter.  The other was still in my hand, stuck to the waxed paper. 

 

         “Well, no problem,” I thought.  “I’ll just put the two pieces up there and cover it with whipped cream; the break won’t even show.”   I picked up one half and positioned it on top of the bottom layer. 

 

       Now, as you know, a nice two layer cake is mounded highest in the center.  And mine happened to be a nice cake.  So before I could get the second half off the wax paper and on the top, the first half started moving.  The jam and marmalade fillings made perfect conditions for an avalanche.  With great glee, that first half started down the slope and was picking up speed.  I ran to the cupboard for toothpicks. 

 
      I finally got them to stay put.  But even impaled with all that wood, those two pieces would not stay together.  There was definitely a Grand Canyon divide down the center.  Jam and marmalade oozed out the sides and down the cake, puddling around the edges of the cake stand. 

 

       I got out my specially-formulated Orange Whipped Cream and tried to camouflage the whole mess with the creamy topping.  Have you ever tried putting whipped cream on a porcupine?

 

       My original idea was for a nostalgic “like-Mom-made-when-we-were-kids” birthday cake – the kind with a simple buttercream frosting.  The whole problem occurred when I decided to embellish.  I have learned my lesson.  No more fancy, schmancy two-layer cakes for me. ”

 

       Love, Your Older Sis

 

      Well, here it is, a year later, and  Memorial Day Weekend to boot.  Wouldn’t you know, we’ll be traveling.  Again.  On my birthday.  Which is the 28th.

 

     I still want an old-fashioned two-layer birthday cake like mom used to make.  Still looks like I’m going to have to make it for myself, too.  Wish me luck.

 

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Finding My Marbles

 

 

 

I think some of my marbles are missing.  So I’m taking some time off to find them. 

 

You can still reach me by leaving comments.  I’ll be checking my email from time to time and will see them there.  

 

I know I’m going to miss you.  And I may post a photo or short line once in a while…to update you on Mama Robin’s progress…or something…

 

…but right now…I’m on a mission…

 

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Mid-day Reverie

 

 

It’s 1:14 p.m.  Mid-day.  Just stepped out onto our front porch to retrieve mail from our box across the street.  Mama robin is still vigilantly brooding in the nest she built under the eves of our front porch.  Last night she weathered quite a storm.  Thunder.  Lightening.  Wind gusts.  Rain.  Exceedingly patient, she is.

 

Strolling the sidewalk and down our driveway, I hear the raucous songs of frogs gone wild.  Lots of them.  In the middle of the day?  Is that what rain does? 

 

The misty field across East Cemetary Road reveals the high humidity.  My instantly frizzing hair confirms it.

 

Lowering the front flap of our black box, I reach in and retrieve its contents, then turn back toward the house. 

 

Perennials are up.  Annuals planted on Mother’s Day are taking nicely to their new home.  Mr. Big Fat Toad has again staked out his territory near the sprouting Black Eyed Susans.  So well camoflaged, only his Creator protected him from the claws of the hand hoe by highlighting his barely-visible, nubby brown back when the soil was first turned. 

 

I slap the mail on the kitchen table, automatically put the Penny Saver on top of the newspaper stack in the broom closet, and shred the rest of the “mail.” 

 

Several pair of men’s jeans churn on Heavy Duty in the washer…

 

The theme song of a Gunsmoke rerun plays in the background.  Was I watching it?  Not really.  But Matt Dillon is kind of cool.  I once had a crush on him. 

 

Mmmm.  The washer’s quiet.  Time for a load of “darks”…    What’s your favorite laundry product? 

 

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Timely Name Dropping

 

For a semi-Wordless Wednesday, I thought it would be fun to post this untouched photo for a little timely name dropping.  I found Dr. Oz to be a very kind, gracious man.   His wife, (not in photo) is adorable, and smart!

 

P.S.  No, I don’t watch Oprah.  I saw the headlines on the web about Dr. Oz’s new TV show.